Metro Society Trains The Spotlight On "Inspiring People" And How They Made A Difference Throughout The COVID-19 Pandemic
The aim of this special is to honor and pay tribute to these inspiring people, giving them a platform to have their stories shared to Filipino people and to the world
For close to two decades, Metro Society, the bible to high society and luxury, has made its mark as the magazine authority on the most inspiring and relevant personalities in Philippine society, offering its readers a truly authentic voice and an insider’s perspective.
Much like its mother company ABS-CBN, to be of service is at the core of everything done at the Metro Group. Letting love and kindness be our roadmap, Metro Society has produced an on-air special for Metro Channel dedicated to the heroes and beacons of hope during these unprecedented and uncertain times. Titled "Inspiring People," the leading homegrown luxury lifestyle magazine in the country produces a four-part special featuring personalities whose powerful and inspiring stories have been sources of strength and hope for us all. The aim of this special is to honor and pay tribute to these inspiring people, giving them a platform to have their stories shared to Filipino people and to the world.
It's hosted by the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Raul Manzano; he sat down with several of today’s modern-day heroes who rose above the tough situation to uplift others and inspire many to do the same.
Check out who were featured in Metro Society's "Inspiring People" special in the gallery below:
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
Tourism Sec. Berna Romulo-Puyat
Last April, just about two weeks into the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the Department of Tourism released a video that would launch the #WeSmileAsOne campaign. It featured Eraserheads' song "With a Smile," to symbolize how Filipinos can still find happiness even during these trying times. “It’s a cliche already, I know,“ Sec. Berna admits. “Even with a mask, you can feel the warmth of the Filipinos. And how resilient we are; and that even in the middle of a pandemic, yes, we can smile.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Metro Channel
Drs. Aivee and Z Teo
Doctors Aivee and Z Teo sprang into action as soon as the lockdown started, donating food, equipment, supplies, and COVID-19 testing kits themselves, showing that faith is always above fear. While most are frightened to step out of the house, Aivee and Z don’t mind going if it means they could help out. Aivee says, “Sometimes it’s not enough that you just give, it’s also giving that effort and letting them know that you’re there physically. It gives a lot more satisfaction and fulfillment that you’re really there, not just asking other people to do it for you.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Drs. Aivee and Z Teo
Dr. Susan Mercado
With a career in public healthcare spanning decades, Dr. Susan Mercado was once the highest ranking Filipino woman in the World Health Organization (WHO) and now the current Special Envoy of the President on Global Health Initiatives (GHI). She never imagined that she, along with countless doctors and healthcare professionals, would be handling a pandemic such as the one we are experiencing right now. She shares, “It’s terrible what’s happening right now, but we’ve been trained for this terrible moment, where we could put to use what we’ve learned, where we could make a difference. And if we can muster the courage to look for solutions and not wait for them, we can impact so many people.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Susan Mercado
Iza Calzado
Multi-hyphenate Iza Calzado recovered from COVID-19 and emerged from the life-changing experience with important realizations she'll forever be reminded of. Recalling her battle against COVID-19, she shares, “All you could do was just every time you close your eyes, you lift it up to God that tomorrow I’ll wake up. I still have so much to do, not only for myself but for my family. I have so many responsibilities. That made me want to fight. I still want to have my child, our own family. That really made me want to live.”
Photo Credit: Tagz Samarita via Iza Calzado
RS Francisco and Sam Verzosa
RS Francisco and Sam Verzosa are the founders of Frontrow, a multi-awarded direct selling company with more than a million members. From the early days of their informal relief work, they have established Frontrow Cares, their charitable arm. And 2020 has proven to be their time to really shine. From the Taal eruption to the COVID-19 pandemic, they haven't stopped helping. Sam says, “We help as the need arises. When we saw after donating the PPEs just how much people needed sustenance, we shifted to the cooked meals and giving rice and chicken. And now, we are helping out the jeepney drivers. We see what’s needed and that's where we go.”
Photo Credit: Frontrow
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Dr. Saturnino Javier
Restraint and objectivity define Dr. Saturnino "Bong" Javier’s leadership of Makati Medical Center. With a bright yet realistic vision for the future, he ultimately hopes that we, as a nation, learn from how we face the pandemic and find ways to adapt and work harmoniously together. “Now that we’ve been through this pandemic, we should be able to learn from all of this, and we should really put all of this in formal documentation. Like a stress test of all that we’ve been through,” Dr. Saturnino says. “After the dust has settled, we should be able to process this, like do a post-mortem of what went wrong, where we succeeded, where we were effective, where we were not effective, and be able to harness this and use it for when the next pandemic comes.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Saturnino Javier
Gary Valenciano
Mr. Pure Energy raised millions in funds for those affected by the ongoing pandemic through various concerts held online. He points out that it is very important for artists to use their popularity and influence for good causes during this time of crisis. He shares, "It’s very important that artists are able to find the right people to associate themselves with, because there is power behind the words that come from an artist... Once you are able to capture the depth of your influence on people, you compel them to do what is right, and they will follow. Artists should really do their part.”
Photo Credit: courtesy of Gary Valenciano
Dan Lichauco
Architect Dan Lichauco had been doing work with the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) for years, and when it became the designated COVID-referral center, it was no surprise that he would get a call. “They called us to see how we could quickly fix the wards, to make sure that they were negative pressure, or as least infectious as possible,” he recalls. But the lockdown meant a difficulty with construction materials. “When we were building the COVID facilities, everything was shut down. So even building materials, we had to be judicious, it was like we had to MacGyver everything that was available.”
Photo Credit: Metro Society archive
Denise de Castro
Denise de Castro of DEQA Design Collaborative collaborated with architects William Ti of WTA Architecture + Design Studio in creating a design for Emergency Quarantine Facilities (EQFs). The EQF design was also such that it used standard sizing of materials, and allowed people to work with readily available materials. None of it was set in stone. “Almost every week there was an update, a new version,” Denise recalls. “Because everyone would give input, we had another Viber group just for technical advisory. So people would give their feedback, and then Will’s team would release a new version, and that would get disseminated. It kept on improving as every variation was built.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Denise de Castro
William Ti
The EQF initiative became bigger than William expected and it gave him newfound appreciation for architecture. “This initiative [is] probably one of the most meaningful work we’ve done, and so it feels good to be an architect and be able to build something that has immediate impact,” William says. “I think it will remind architects of our roles in society [and] I think at the end of the day architecture needs to be there for us to plan a way forward.”
Photo Credit: @entrari
Isko Moreno
Mayor Isko Moreno and Manila’s local government have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with decisiveness and pragmatism, showing us some of the amazing things that good, basic governance can do for a city, even in an extraordinary time such as this. On the LGU’s unrelenting efforts to do as much as they can and provide as much assistance for their people, Mayor Isko says: “I will never, ever, not even a blink of an eye, magdadalawang-isip na bumili ng equipment, gamot, proteksyon for both doctors and frontliners. Kasi ang bawa’t buhay ng tao—mahirap, middle class, mayaman—pareho lang ang value ng buhay niyan.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the office of Mayor Isko Moreno
Angel Locsin
Angel Locsin uses the power of celebrity and her influence to help others and raise awareness on important issues. In her segment, Angel brings it back to this simple truth—compassion is about speaking up for those in most need, on issues that are most important, knowing that our collective efforts for the nation will allow for change to happen. On speaking up, she states with conviction: “Tulungan ito eh, bansa natin 'to, kung may malasakit ka, magsalita ka.”
Photo Credit: @therealangellocsin
Patty Ang
As one of the first fashion designers to heed the call for PPEs for our distressed frontliners, Patty is living proof that change is the real fuel for creativity. “There was a shoutout for fashion designers to help and make PPEs. Mich Dulce shared the basic pattern and I had a team on hand, so we just got to it. We wanted to help in any way we could, and then everything became so busy,” she shares. Aside from making PPEs for frontliners, she and her team now create PPEs for clients as well; she also launched a new brand of rompers, loungewear, and bodysuits perfect for those working from home.
Photo Credit: Metro archive
Rajo Laurel
From meeting brides-to-be, showbiz stars, and his other clients, fame and fortune come at a price. He works almost constantly, and so when the lockdown began, he chose to head off to his Batangas bolthole. But being away doesn’t mean being unaware. Rajo shares, “We were in a war, and we can be the purveyors of modern armor. It broke my heart to see the frontliners literally wearing garbage bags. So I called my sister, and asked, 'Are there still people who can work?' We have a dorm for our workers and some of them couldn’t go home. It was a difficult learning curve; we had to find a way to work things out while I was so far away. As I said, it’s a war and the soldiers were dying. But we figured it out."
Photo Credit: Metro Society archive
Edwin Tan
Edwin Tan and his late partner Pepsi Herrera were known for dressing movie stars and doing showstopping gowns and dashing tuxedos. And then, a global health crisis made him draw on his past as a med school student, and in the course of that, he literally got to design PPEs that fly the flag. “Oh you should have seen it—some people were jumping, some crying, but there was also lots of laughing!” Edwin recalls the day he showed his workroom seamstresses an Instagram post of the PAL crew on the tarmac, sporting their PPEs that proudly bore the PAL logo, the sun from our flag, shining through, just as the old PAL slogan so aptly captured. “Most of them are now the sole breadwinners. Their husbands have lost their jobs because of COVID, so you can just imagine how happy they are to have jobs. But to see the crew so happy also made them so happy.”
Photo Credit: StarStudio
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles and his work with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) showed his leadership and service which had offered life-changing solutions that benefited the health of the community at large. Public panic would have made the current pandemic worse, so Nograles sought to go the other way, serving as the reassuring voice of the government that people needed to hear. As the country continues to fight COVID-19, he hopes that we, as Filipinos, are reminded of our resiliency, learning how we can turn our challenges and weaknesses into strengths. For him, the strength of this nation is drawn from faith and family. “If we remember that strength in our faith and the essence of family, we will overcome [it],” he said.
Photo Credit: @karlonograles
Some of the simplest acts can make a big impact, and this is the story of a few individuals who rose to the occasion to create lasting waves of change.
Below, check out our articles on the featured celebrities and personalities in Metro Society's "Inspiring People" special:
Watch the four-part Metro Society "Inspiring People" special below:
Watch episodes of Metro Society’s Inspiring People on Metro.Style’s YouTube Channel, as well as replays on Metro Channel (channel 52). Stay updated by following Metro Society on Instagram @metrosocietyph, and Metro Channel on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @metrochannelph.
Lead photos courtesy of Metro Channel (Sec. Berna Romulo-Puyat), Tagz Samarita via Iza Calzado, Gary Valenciano, and office of Mayor Isko Moreno
With words by Justin Alexandra Convento
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